Bring your product list across, keep the scanner, printer, drawer and card terminal you already have, and run both registers side by side for a day if you like. Most of the work is one export and one import.
Estura is built for convenience stores — one till or several — and it’s worth a look if any of these sound familiar.
Probably not a fit, to be straight with you: if you need a Mac, gift cards or points-based loyalty, refunds back onto a customer’s card (Estura refunds in cash or onto a house account), or a store outside Canada.
Find its product or item-list export and save it as a file. While you’re there, save the sales and tax reports you’ll want to keep — past sales don’t move across.
Usually under its inventory, items or reports menu.A file with name and price columns goes straight in. Anything else becomes a price list, and you scan your shelves with prices filled in for you.
Inventory → … → Import CSV, or Scan to add products → Load listYour province sets the sales tax rate during setup. Then make sure tax-free items say so — a file without a taxable column imports everything as taxable. Scan a few shelves to spot-check prices.
Settings → Store for the rate; Inventory → Filters → Tax-free to checkGive every cashier their own PIN and role, so each sale, void and no-sale is tied to the person who rang it.
Employees → Add employeePick your receipt printer and print a test, then pop the drawer. Choose how this till takes cards while you’re in Settings.
Settings → Hardware → Print test and Test drawer; Settings → PaymentsRing your first real sale. Keep the old register plugged in beside it for a day if that helps you sleep — there’s nothing to sync between them.
Open the Point of Sale screen and scan.Every button and menu path, written out: Bring your products over from another POS in the help guide.
Import CSV takes a comma-separated file with a header row. Only name and price are required; barcode, category and sub-category, taxable, cost, brand, size, supplier, stock on hand, age limit, deposit and enviro fee come across when they’re there. New categories and suppliers are made for you, and a bad row is skipped and listed — the rest still import.
Common header names are recognised, in any order and any case.
The price list reads comma, tab, semicolon or pipe-separated files, guesses which column is the barcode, price, name and tax, and lets you correct it. It doesn’t add anything to your catalogue on its own — it fills in the price and tax as you scan each item in.
In Scan to add products, each scan lands as a row. Items in the price list arrive with their price and tax filled in and the old register’s name beside them. Anything not on the list gets a name suggestion from public product databases — only the barcode number is sent.
Estura works with standard gear rather than its own devices. The exception is equipment made only for your old POS company’s system — their own terminals and stations usually don’t carry over.
| Computer | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)Doesn’t need to be powerful. | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode scanner | Any USB HID (keyboard-mode) scannerNo drivers needed. A 2D model also reads driver’s licences for age checks. | Keep it |
| Receipt printer | Epson (ESC/POS) or Star (Star Line Mode)Connected as a Windows printer, or by IP address on your network. | Keep it |
| Cash drawer | RJ11/RJ12, connected through the printer | Keep it |
| Customer display | Any second monitorShows each line and the running total. | Optional |
| Card terminal | Your own terminal & processor — or the built-in Stripe Terminal option | Bring your own |
Not sure about a specific model? Email [email protected] and we’ll check before you switch.
A new Estura till rings real sales for 14 days before it needs a key. Use that window to set up at your own pace while your old register keeps the store running, then subscribe and cancel in that order.
Install Estura on the PC you’ll use at the counter. On the first screen, use the Set up & activate later link under the key box to start without one — the 14 days count from then.
Bring your products across, check taxes, add your staff and print a test receipt. Ring a few sales. Nothing about your old register changes.
Get Estura, then enter your licence key in Settings → Subscription and click Activate. Everything you set up stays exactly as it is.
Check its notice period, any early-cancellation fees and whether leased equipment has to go back. Export the reports you’ll need for your books before your access ends.
If your card processing came with the old system, make sure your new terminal is working first.
Estura next to a typical percentage-of-sales POS, a worked example of card fees at an example rate, and a checklist with a blank column for your current system.
Download Estura free, bring your products across and ring real sales for 14 days before it needs a key. $94.99/mo per till when you subscribe.